Iraq’s foreign reserves at USD55.7 billion: official source

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraq’s foreign reserves have stood at USD55.7 billion, an official source at the Iraqi central bank was quoted saying on Thursday.

Alsumaria News quoted the source saying that this is the amount recorded until the end of last June, noting that while the net amount of foreign currency stands at USD48.3 billion, the remainder represents the finance ministry’s deposit at the bank.

According to the source, the reserves are distributed across banks at eight countries for safety, including the United States, Switzerland, France and the United Kingdom, ranging from cash, bonds and gold.

According to the official, Iraq deposits 89 tons of gold in London.

The current reserves represent a slight increase from the USD48 billion declared by the central bank’s governor in December 2017.

Iraq struggles to revamp its economy and rehabilitate infrastructure affected by the war against IS that lasted from 2014 to late last year. It had collected nearly USD30 billion from a donors conference in Kuwait held last February.